Posted by Mike Massie on December 9, 2009
A Fall Enrollment Season Like No Other?
If the recession has gotten you to tighten your belt, perhaps you should consider sticking to those habits once things improve
It looks like consumer confidence may be picking up, based on what I’ve been hearing from school owners around the country.
After a relatively flat October, enrollments increased sharply in November and the upswing is continuing into December… all factors that point to this being a highly unusual fall season for many schools around the nation.
However, it also could indicate that consumers are feeling more confident about the economy and are becoming more willing to spend money on luxury services again, in spite of the holiday season.
And, although the consumer confidence index has only seen a slight uptick since September (although it has increased dramatically after it hit near record lows earlier this year), it bears mentioning that at least in our industry there are plenty of schools that are going great guns despite the recession.
(Note: My take on this is that people are looking for something to take their minds off everything going on in the world, and activities like martial arts and fitness classes are a great way for them to do so. So, make sure your ads are focused on how fun and enjoyable your programs are – many people are more than willing to pay for escapism during difficult times. – MM)
If You’ve Tightened Your Belt A Notch Or Two, Don’t Start Loosening It Yet…
What this all means to those who have survived this recession is that you’ve developed some really good business habits in order to keep your martial arts businesses going.
That means you’ve been…
- Creating and following a marketing plan each month that includes multiple marketing methods, instead of cutting back on marketing to save money (this is so backwards, I can’t believe it when people tell me they’re planning to cut back on marketing to save money – that’s like saying you’re going to quit your job to cut back on your fuel bill)…
- Doing online marketing on a daily basis (blogging, articles, press releases, etc.)…
- Keeping your overhead costs as low as possible without sacrificing customer service or comfort…
- And, working your hardest to keep the students you have through showing them that they are valued members of your school!
Good Business Practices Should Be Adhered To In Every Economy
The fact is, the economy goes through regular cycles of highs and lows. Remember when the dot-com bubble burst back in 2000? How about the unusually harsh recession in the early eighties?
Knowing this, it only makes sense to stick to sound financial practices in your school during both strong financial times and lean.
So once this recession blows over, don’t do what most school owners will do and start to coast… or worse yet, to bog your business down with excess spending and overhead bloat. Instead, stick to those good habits so they become second nature… and then sock that extra money you make during the “good times” away so you are ready for the next low period.
By doing so, you’ll be protecting your business against any future economic dips… and at the same time you’ll be maximizing your profits while decreasing your liabilities.
Sounds like the smart way to go to me.
Until next time,
Posted by Mike Massie on November 5, 2009
Know Thy Image
I fully expect some clown to start offering martial arts for pets or some such nonsense at some point - which would be an extreme case of trying to offer something for everyone... or every-pet, in this case.
Trying to be all things to all people is a sure-fire way to become nothing to no one. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t diversify into having multiple programs for multiple age demographics. Not at all… in fact, for most school owners and in most locations I think it’s a mistake to just go after a single demographic.
Know What Pays Thy Bills
However, I do think you need to know what pays the bills, and be practical about pursuing that demographic and making it the priority in your school. For example…
In my first school, I built the entire school on kids programs. That was my whole image, and even though I taught adult classes, fitness classes, and so on, my entire image was tied up in being a kid-friendly school.
But in my most recent school, I focused more on presenting the message that we had programs for the whole family. Still, I wanted to teach more adults, so I focused more on that.
The thing is, getting kids in your school is usually the easiest task. It’s the adults that are much harder to attract. That’s why I always go for the kid’s market first, then go after the adults once the kid’s programs are paying the bills.
Know Thy Demographic
What’s that have to do with image?
Well, all my ads are pretty much middle of the road as far as raciness goes. The raciest thing I’ve ever run was for my boot camp, and that’s because the model showed midriff and had a belly piercing (it looked good, though – the ads performed well).
Mostly, I’ve stuck with mom-friendly stuff, because in the areas I operated in most of my clients and decision-makers were moms.
Know Thy Target Market
Here’s something to consider, though…
Say you run a gym that’s MMA oriented, and your enrollment is mostly made up of the 20- and 30-something, tatted up, Affiliction-wearing guys.
Chances are good that your kids classes are going to be made up of kids from those households.
So, you’ll still get some “contact” enrollments just by virtue of farming your existing clientele – it’s just going to fall out that way.
But, that “bad boy” image isn’t going to go over well with families who just walk in off the street. Your average soccer mom is going to be turned off by it, and she’ll take her kids down the street to the plain-vanilla-typical-suburban-family-image school down the street.
This is just one example, and I think you can see the converse also applies. If your school is viewed as a “kiddie” school, chances are good that will work against you if you are marketing hard core MMA or adult self-defense programs.
Know Thy Image As It Applies To Thy Demographic
This is why it’s important to understand the demographics of your area… so you can make sure you don’t have an image disconnect between the image your marketing projects and your local market.
In more densely populated urban areas, it may be possible to pick and choose your ideal student by targeting a particular demographic. This is what you see advertisers doing in mass media marketing – the audience is broad enough to allow the advertiser’s to pick and choose their market to a certain extent.
However, your market reach is effectively only 5-10 miles from your location (ten being on the extreme edges of your market).
So, the demographic found in that geographical area absolutely dictates what your marketing image should be.
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Questions? Comments?
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Posted by Mike Massie on February 20, 2009
In this economy you simply can't afford to be a wuss about what you need to do to stay in business
Ever see a kid arguing with his parents about something they wanted him to do?
If you have kids (or teach them in your school), I’m sure you’ve heard this before:
“But I don’t want to (insert something here that kids normally hate doing)!”
And you know the rest.
When I explain to martial arts instructors what they need to do to succeed, many times they’re a lot like those kids.
I tell them exactly what they need to do to succeed, and this is what I often hear in return:
“But Mike, I don’t want to…”
…teach kids
…teach women
…teach baby boomers
…teach fitness classes
…teach grappling
…teach mma
…sell equipment
…sell nutritional supplements
…do birthday parties
…work on my marketing
…hire a professional to design and build my website
…have a marketing budget
…track my stats
…train a leadership team
…run a summer camp
…make public appearances
…do public speaking events
…network in my community
…get publicity from the local press
…do volunteer work and fundraisers
In short, they’re telling me they don’t want to WORK…
They just want to make the big bucks, without having to hassle with all the things that will get you there.
But, you’re different, right?
I mean, you’ve been reading my materials, and so by now you know success doesn’t just happen like magic.
Well, in this economy that’s doubly true.
So, for those of you who are okay with bucking up and just dealing with whatever it takes to make your school a success, my hat’s off to you.
And, when the dust settles after this recession is over, you’ll be one of the ones left standing while your whiny, sissy competitors are long gone.
- MM
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Filed Under: News
Posted by Mike Massie on August 4, 2008
Gary wrote in last week to ask:
Q: “I currently earn $45,000 a year… So, at $99/month per student, I could replace my income and pay for my school expenses at about 45 students. Is this a reachable goal in, 1 year, two years?”
A: Yes, it is a very reasonable goal, but you aren’t going to be able to pay your expenses on a studio and pay yourself $45K a year with only 45 students.
That may cover your rent in an area where lease space is cheap, but you have to consider how much your utilities, advertising, and miscellaneous costs (supplies, cash flow to stock your Pro Shop, etc.) will be each month and factor that in as well.
I currently spend about $800 a month on advertising to generate approximately 20 leads a month, and we typically convert about half of those into memberships each month. (Update: We now spend only 25% of this amount on advertising and marketing due to stepping up our online marketing efforts. – MM)
Drop out rates are climbing due to the economy, so while we are still doing fine, we are planning to spend more money on our marketing this fall to make up for the students who have decided that their other luxuries are more important.
I suggest you use the worksheets in my business manual to determine realistically what your monthly expenses will be, and send those numbers to me so I can look them over. Then, you’ll know where you need to be, enrollment-wise, before you can quit your job.
The good news is, if you teach “X” martial arts you are offering a popular program that tends to do well with adults. However, I would advise you to look at teaching fitness classes as well, such as kick boxing bag classes.
Every “X” school I know makes over half their income marketing fitness martial arts and teaching fitness kick boxing. It’s a much broader audience to market to than self-defense, so be sure to include it in your class offerings.
